“Coming in now,” I shouted over the roar of the engines, my hands tight on the controls. “Where are the tutors?”

Approaching the garage but we’ll get there first, Peggy thought back, knowing I wouldn’t be able to hear her if she were to speak.

Are you sure? I asked, wishing that I could check the screen myself but I couldn’t look away from the rapidly approaching base on the scanner.

We were so close. It was the first time I’d seen it since we’d been taken from there however long ago and the sight of it made me nauseous.

The cameras on the bottom of the ship showed us exactly how much had changed since then and I hated it. Fences had been put up around the exterior, so tall and vicious-looking that I could see them from the air. The normally brightly coloured buildings had been painted a dull grey, as if any other colour was too cheerful and no longer allowed.

I wanted to cry.

“Landing in thirty seconds!

My hands shook on the controls. They shouldn’t have. I had flown ships into tighter space and worse environments before, it shouldn’t have phased me so much but it did. The pressure of our actions was too prominent in my mind. It was like every moment, every beat of my heart, reminded me that I was flying into our base. It was our home and we needed to defend it. We needed to protect it and the innocent kids living there from the Council.

We needed it to go well.

And I knew, if it didn’t, I’d never recover.

Gods, I’m glad it didn’t go worse than it did. If Sammy or any of the other kids had died because of me… I just. I don’t know. Things would have gotten much, much worse.

“I’ve opened the garage doors. Clear to land,” Cas muttered beside me, not raising his voice any louder than necessary.

“Understood,” I replied.

I could see the garage doors on the screen. They were fully open but twitching like someone was trying to get into the controls to close them. We were too close though. They never moved quickly enough and we’d be inside long before they became a concern.

But then if they closed, we might be trapped.

No, I had to believe we’d be fine. Someone else would be able to hack into them and get them to open if needed. Like, Trolis or someone else in one of the ships above us would be keeping an eye on the situation and would be able to intervene if needed.

It was a concern that played on my mind as I pulled us into the garage, my eyes bouncing between the controls and the room around us.

The tutors weren’t there yet.

“Where are—” I started before Peggy cut me off.

They’re running towards us! We have maybe 40 seconds, she thought quickly.

My hand slammed down on the controls, killing the engine, and I threw myself out of my seat. Cas followed behind me as we sprinted along the ship towards the door.

I’m overriding the controls. This fucking door isn’t opening fast enough, Cory thought as we approached him. I should have done this before!

There was no time for me to reply, the doors were open too soon.

“Shields!” I shouted as I thought to Peggy, Let us know when they’re close.

Twenty-three seconds.

I hauled the surprisingly unwieldy, heavy-duty shield down the ramp, rushing to get into position. We couldn’t be too close to the ship but if we were too spread out, that would be a problem too.

I’ll take point, Cory thought, rushing forwards as Cas and I fell into place on either side.

Looking back, I can see now that we should have been more spread out. If we were, then it would have been harder for the tutors to hit us all with the same spray but I don’t know. Maybe it was a fluke and I’m just grasping at straws, trying to find any reason, any excuse for why it happened.

Maybe I should have taken point. I know the tutors expected me to. They thought I was the one at the front and that’s why they were aiming more at Cory than they were at me, I know it. Harvey might have hated Cas the most but everyone else wanted to bring me down. They wanted to be the one who murdered the pilot of our crew, who destroyed morale. My crew basically all look the same in our flight gear, they didn’t know.

In position, Cory thought.

His shield was secured in place, his weapons at the ready.

In position, Cas confirmed, his hands twitching on his guns.

In position, came Peggy’s response.

They were ready to go. My crew were ready to fight but there should have been another voice. Gem’s positive yet determined voice should have rung through our heads, telling us that we were ready, we could do this.

All in position, I told them, my voice sombre even to my ears. No retreat.

They’re almost here. Doors about to open, Peggy shot back before I could reply.

Peggy, Cas and I will provide cover. Cory, let us know the situation and weak points, I ordered.

On it.

My heart slowed and my breathing stilled as I peered through the blue-tinted window on my shield, staring at the door before looking down to check my shield was stable. I kicked it gently, making sure it didn’t move, nodding to myself before looking up again.

We were ready. As ready as we could be but it still wasn’t enough.

They’re coming!

I blinked hard, cycling through my eye mods so that I could see through the doors at the other end of the garage.

I could see them, two of them at least, rushing towards us. The heat vision didn’t allow me to see what kind of weapons they had but the blurred outline of them made me assume the answer was ‘a lot’.

Where’s the third? I asked, almost demanded.

Checking, Peggy sent back before saying, In Andy’s office still. I think it’s Plend.

Keep an eye on them if you can. I don’t want them circling around us.

My thoughts stopped suddenly as the doors twitched and started to open.

I let out a slow, barely shaky breath, before jamming the tip of my gun into position and opening fire.

Cas joined me, laying down a broad, spray of bullets and forcing the tutors to dart behind the edge of the doors as Peggy booted up the guns on the ship.

I didn’t even get a chance to see the tutors, not properly. They’d immediately taken cover so I couldn’t work out how much armour they had or what weapons they’d grabbed.

We need to go slower, Cory thought over the deafening dim of gunfire. They need to be lured out, I can’t work out the situation if they can’t come out.

Peggy, pretend the guns have jammed, I ordered.

On it.

The ship’s guns continued firing for a moment before stopping suddenly. It spat out a few more bullets before stopping again.

Cas, pretend you need to reload! Fumble it!

Cas did as I commanded, stopping fire almost immediately and I could see him feeding more bullets into his weapon. I continued firing, my shots wilder and seemingly less in control as he let some of the empty cartridges fall to the floor, just beyond his shield.

A shield was thrown up in the doorway and, despite the confusion that washed through me, I forced myself to fire at it.

Something felt wrong. They were just using standard-issue shields. It wasn’t one of the much more heavy-duty ones that we’d seen Guardians using recently, it was just a normal shield.

Start shooting again, Cas, I need to reload but wait until I stop before you start. Cory, get ready, they should come out now, I thought, knowing that they’d take advantage of our moment of seemingly poor timing.

Ready, Cas replied, preparing to slot his gun into position again.

I tilted my head down, still watching the door as I let my hands follow the rhythm they were very used to. The gun was reloaded and the empty cartridge discarded before the tutors even left the safety of the door for the shield but that told me something.

They were out of practice. They might have been highly decorated when they were in the Space Corps but they’d been out for too long. Their cushy Council jobs meant that their reflexes were worse, they barely knew what they were doing. That helped us.

Shit, I feel bad. I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.